ICSI January 2023

[Infertilitylife]

Hello,

My partner and I need IVF due to MFI. We are hoping to start treatment in January 2023.

I had my fertility ultrasound scans today and these are my results:

AFC -

Left Ovary - 13 follicles
Right Ovary - 14 follicles

My Endo thickness was 7.3mm (cycle day 10).

I have no masses, cysts, fluid etc - everything looked smooth and normal.
How do these results seem?

I was also told I have a retroverted uterus - will this affect IVF?
Thank you

Amazing news @Brown269 so exciting!! You feeling good? See those horrible needles are worth it... thats what I tell myself anyway 😂 it's lovely weather here... so far! Going to walk the dogs soon! Just in case it does change!

Just had our consultation review.

So, they’ve advised to wait 3 months before starting again. Need to spend that time focusing on healthy lifestyle, supplements, exercise. Basically lose weight!

They don’t know if it’s a sperm or egg issue because both looked okay. They have advised that DH has sperm stress test, so need to look into that. Also spoke about trying zymot chip and AOA which is good because I was going to bring that up.

I’ll be on short protocol next time, slightly lower dose with two meds and dual trigger. I responded a bit unevenly so they think that might help.

We won’t be eligible for refund cycle, but will be for multi cycle (2 rounds) which is cheaper anyway.

So, looks like a break until May/June time.

Yeah really pleased @Autumbreeze 🥰 just hope they keep doing as they’re told until Friday 🤭 definitely makes the injections feel worth it when it’s good news doesn’t it 😊

Ahhh lucky you! It’s been piddling it down here!

@Lauralozzle that seems to be fairly positive then - how are you feeling?

At least they have given you a couple of months and given you things you can do to hopefully improve your chances, anything is worth a try ay 🙏🏼

Whats Zymot chip and AOA?

hope you’re feeling positive after your appt ❤️

That's good news @Lauralozzle short protocol worked a lot better for me and it's a lot quicker to! We maybe going around the same time again then ☺️ I'm thinking May/June if we can. Or otherwise I may push it back to August as I have a busy month July with weddings and special birthdays. We are also thinking of a 2 multi cycle. Depending on costs.

@Brown269 didn't take the dogs out. One isn't looking to well today so we are back in bed having cuddles... yes they sleep in bed with us 😂 sun is still out here... for now!

@Autumbreeze no judgement from me, I sleep with 3 cats in the bed with me - much to hubbys disapproval 🤣

@Brown269 yeah my husband was the same! He hated it at first but misses them when they decided to sleep on the floor or downstairs now 😂 started my new vitamins this week and have an awful taste in my mouth. Do you take all yours together or space them out?

@Autumbreeze I don’t think my hubby will ever approve to be honest, but I keep telling him he can sleep in the spare room if they bother him 🤷🏼‍♀️🤣

I have mine wrote on my phone as I got myself in a tizzy remembering what to take when I first started taking them as I figured it was best to spread them out so take:

Morning: 200g CoQ10 & folate
Breakfast: vitamin D, Vitamin E & B12
Lunch: 200g CoQ10, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetylcysteine
Tea: Multi vitamin
Before bed: 200g CoQ10 & omega 3

**apologies if I have cause any offence by calling ‘dinner’ ‘tea’, depending where you are in the country 🤣

It's tea for me to... although my husband says dinner 😂 @Brown269 he's from the next town over from me but we are worlds apart 😂 I also tell him when he moans about no space to go in the spare room 😂

Aw right! I'm only taking a fertility multi Vit, omega 3, vitamin D and waiting for my CoQ10 to arrive. I think I'll try and space them out to though a bit. Going to take the CoQ10 a few times a day like you.

@Autumbreeze they just never take the hint and p*ss off so we can enjoy the bed and fur baby cuddles to ourselves do they?! 🤣

I think I have definitely over done it with the vitamins to be honest, but it’s a very guilt ridden journey isn’t it? Like if I don’t do absolutely everything then if it doesn’t work I’ll feel like that’s why even though I know so much is just out of my control!

The only ones that have made me feel a bit iffy are the alpha-lipoic acid & n-acetylcysteine which seem to give me a bit of heartburn so I don’t think I’d have them again but seen as I’ve already paid for them I’m bloody well taking them! 🤣

Where did you get your COQ10 from? I found it quite difficult to get, I was ordering off Holland and barret but they aren’t cheap, but I did find an overseas company called piping rocks where they’re cheaper, they don’t have great reviews but I didn’t have any issues with delivery or anything.

@Brown269 they really don't 😂 we are enjoying plenty of space right now though.

I got mine from hey nutrition. They are a new family run businesses based in London. I also bought the fertility complex from them to try... but both are quite expensive. Also the CoQ10 is only 100mg. Is it Holland and Barret own brand you have? The other vitamins I have I got from them. What size Vitamin D are you taking?

@Autumbreeze yeah H&B own brand for the CoQ10, they do all different strengths, I started with 120mg then they had a sale on for buy one get one half price or something so I got some of the stronger ones, but there’s so many different recommendations online for how much to take, some are as high as 1000mg a day & some say just 150mg is sufficient so I’m really not sure how much difference the strength makes 🤷🏼‍♀️
also taking 4000iu Vitamin D (again, quite excessive) someone I work with was prescribed vitamin D for a deficiency and the prescription was only 2000iu a day so I really don’t think I need them that strong to be honest 🫣

@Brown269 my mother had a vitamin D deficiency so she gets D3 4000iu from the doctor so I could have hers as she has loads. I'm only taking 1000iu at the moment.

I may change to conceive plus rather than the hey nutrition ones as they are a bit cheaper. You could go on forever couldn't you? My friend mentioned dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) as well! I've not really looked in to it yet. But she said it's one to read up on.

@Autumbreeze that ‘it starts with the egg’ book goes in to how dhea is good for IVF but it’s not easily available in the uk and I read a fair few things of women ordering from abroad and it being stopped at customs and them losing the money and it won’t clear if the parcel gets opened, so I just kinda figured I’d steer clear, I imagine it’s just because it hasn’t been tested in the uk but I’m worried of taking something that’s not regulated here if im honest. But from what that book says and what I’ve read it is very good for women with diminished ovarian reserve so if you know someone that’s had it and didn’t have any problems I’d think you’d be safe getting some from the same place they did?

I just got the pregnacare pre-conception and have some of the pregnacare tablets to swap to after embryo transfer (🤞🏼) but I have seen there are much better brands of pregnancy multi vitamins out there, but again, I’d already brought them and they aren’t cheap so I’m bloody taking them 🤣

Afternoon all. So I'm all done.
The consultant (who was the nicest man on the planet) did manage to aspirate all follicles from the left as well as the right 🤩
We got 24 eggs!!
Because it's over 20 it's an automatic freeze all cycle, which I'm absolutely fine with.

I'll receive a call or email later today with how many were good enough to be injected with sperm and what happens now with FET. I'll continue to get updated this week as normal and then they'll freeze on day 5.

That's amazing @Sj2505 fab they got to both ovary's and 24 eggs!! Freeze all is good to to give you time to heal. Be at your best ready for transfer then.

How you feeling now? How did you find the sedation?

@Sj2505 24 eggs is amazing 🤩

@Brown269 Glad your scan went well 😊

I’m feeling ok. DH not feeling so great, he doesn’t like how it’s all so clinical, I prefer it that way. I think all the research I’ve done has helped. I’m glad we have a plan and things to focus on.

We’ve decided to definitely have a holiday before we start. We’ve also been advised to take proxeed so I’ve ordered the one for men and women today. That cost a small fortune! It’s a sachet drink thing, so I might not rattle so much.

I got my COQ10 from Amazon, but I’m going to look at it starts with the egg supplement page and see if there’s a better quality one I can get once I run out.

Time to focus on healthy diet, so my chocolate ban may continue. I might allow myself some on Sundays as a treat. No more, or fewer, takeaways. We do have a lot of takeaways, which isn’t great.

@Sj2505 Wow! That’s amazing! Congrats 😁 I bet you’re so chuffed with that aren’t you ❤️

How did you find the sedation? And hopefully you aren’t feeling too sore now 🤞🏼

@Lauralozzle its nice that you’re giving yourself something to focus on to get you through the next couple of months and a holiday sounds ideal ❤️
Changing your diet is so difficult isn’t it, it’s the one area where I’ve fell down to be honest, I’ve done everything I possibly can to help my chances but can’t help having sugar and carbs, it’s just really difficult and it’s an easy way to bring your spirits up when you’re going through difficult things life ivf isn’t it!
But I think your plan sounds really achievable, you’re not saying you’re gonna restrict yourself completely and still have the odd treat so hopefully that will help you stay on the wagon in the week 🙌🏼

Thank you all 🥰
I'm feeling a bit drowsy but ok in general. Not in too much pain.

Pre-apologies for the coming horror story...
I started off with just local anaesthetic as I struggle with sedation. But it was so painful!! The consultant said he could tell I was struggling because I was gripping the bed and tensing up the bed that he had to keep asking me to come back down. My body was so tense and shaking that one of my legs broke out of one of the stirrups Velcro 😬 So they ended up giving me some sedation and pain relief in the cannula to take the edge off. It was so nice feeling all of my muscles start to relax and generally just calming down. My memory is intermittent after that, but I wasn't completely out. I'm so pleased I asked for the sedation in the end.
The woman before me had just LA and apparently she was fine and was able to just walk herself out haha, so it's different for everyone.
I think I have quite a sensitive cervix as I sometimes bleed during sex (been investigated a couple of times, but I guess it's just fragile haha).

Anyway... just got a call from the clinic and of the 24 eggs they collected, 17 were mature enough to be injected ☺️
They will call again tomorrow morning to let me know how many fertilise!

Oh wow you’re brave @Sj2505, I’m over here dissapointed they don’t just put you to sleep to have it done and just sedation doesn’t seem enough to me so I definitely wouldn’t be asking for local only 😳

17 is such an amazing number congrats 🎉 hopefully lots of nice healthy embryos to freeze for you then 🔥🔥🔥

@Brown269 given my time again I would just ask them just to lid me up with all the drugs haha. Although it was nice being conscious and watching the screen. My clinic also had another screen in the room which was the embryologist's view down the microscope looking for the eggs in the fluids ☺️

@Sj2505 Oh that does actually sound lovely ❤️ I bet that was a magical thing to watch 🥰 just minus the pain 😬

@Sj2505 17 mature eggs is amazing!!! Hopefully you’ll get a fab blast rate from that!!!

Just had a response email and apparently my frozen transfer will like be in around two months, I have to do more paperwork (even though I remember the last night had questions on freeze all cycles!).. apparently they'll take around two weeks to be checked. Then I have to book another treatment planning appointment and start from there!
Looks like we'll all be going through it all together again ♥️ @Lauralozzle @Autumbreeze @User491

@Sj2505 It does indeed! ♥️ Hopefully that’ll give your ovaries time to settle down. 24 eggs is a lot, they must be sore!